Found Wisdom from the Type-In

Sometimes you get more than you expected. This has been the case after every Type-In event. One of the things I look forward to, after all the people have left and it's just us few left to box up our typewriters, are the detritus of the Type-In, scraps of paper left over, with mostly anonymous typings, glimpses from deep inside the psyche of individuals we otherwise know nothing about.

Never assume these are mere random words on paper. People connected to typewriters via fingers and keys have unusual properties. People aren't sure what to type, so the first thing off the top of their mind gets impressed as ink into paper. Often they don't even know the significance of what they've written, they're just discarded, for us to find at the end.

My wife Andrea made the first edit, from the piles of paper picked up from off the tables or left in the machines. Then I did more culling, looking for the juicy bits, that seem to speak deeper than mere random words to paper.

Here are just a few samples, taken from the Spring 2023 ABQ Type-In that was held yesterday, March 11, at the Special Collections Library. Enjoy.











Here's a video synopsis from the event: